Wallabies Recall Cooper, Drop Beale as All Blacks Change One

Aug. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Australia recalled fly-half Quade
Cooper and dropped full-back Kurtley Beale for this weekend’s
Rugby Championship game against New Zealand, which made one
change to the team that won the tournament opener.

Cooper, 24, will play his first Test this year after
recovering from a knee injury that sidelined him for seven
months. His return shifts Berrick Barnes to inside center for
the Aug. 25 match at Auckland’s Eden Park, where Australia
hasn’t won since 1986.

Cooper, who helped the Wallabies break their decade-long
title drought in the southern hemisphere championship in 2011,
last featured for Australia in the Oct. 21 Rugby World Cup
third-place playoff against Wales at the same stadium, which he
left on crutches after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament.

Elsewhere in the backline, Adam Ashley-Cooper switches from
the right wing to replace Beale at full-back, with Drew Mitchell
taking over on the wing. Beale made several handling errors and
missed a tackle in each of New Zealand’s two tries when the
teams met in Sydney five days ago.

Michael Hooper comes in at openside flanker in place of
injured captain David Pocock, who was ruled out for three months
after injuring his knee in the opener. Scrum-half Will Genia
will lead Australia.

Front-Row Shuffle

In the front row, Ben Alexander replaces injured tighthead
prop Sekope Kepu. Stephen Moore was called into the starting
lineup at hooker after Tatafu Polota-Nau, who was named in the
role earlier today, told the coaches that he wasn’t fit to play
following a training session.

The seven reserves won’t be confirmed until after
tomorrow’s training run at Eden Park, the team said in a
statement. Polota-Nau, who has a buttock injury, may be included
on the bench should he complete that session without discomfort.

“The team comes first,” Polota-Nau said. “Everyone needs
to be at their peak if we are to give ourselves a chance.”

Australia must win to have any chance of getting back the
Bledisloe Cup contested annually against the All Blacks. The
Wallabies last held the trophy in 2002 and this year is the
first best-of-three contest since 1998, the series having been
played over two or four matches in the time since.

The Wallabies are rated the 6-1 outsider to win at Eden
Park, their longest ever odds in a Test against New Zealand
according to Tabcorp Holdings Ltd., Australia’s largest owner of
betting shops. They’ve lost their past 12 matches there against
the All Blacks.

26-Year Hoodoo

“That’s the position we’re in,” Mitchell told reporters.
“We have an opportunity this weekend to go out there and make a
difference and change what has been, in all of our opinions, a
hoodoo that’s gone for too long.”

World champion New Zealand earlier made one enforced change
to the team that started the 27-19 win in Sydney, with Wyatt
Crockett coming in at loosehead prop for Tony Woodcock, who has
a rib injury.

“We are expecting that Australia will take a step up in
their intensity after last weekend’s loss and we will have to be
ready for that challenge,” All Blacks coach Steve Hansen said
in an e-mailed statement.

Tournament newcomer Argentina makes its home debut in two
days against South Africa in Mendoza. The Springboks won last
week’s encounter between the teams in Cape Town 27-6. Both teams
already named their lineups for the match.